September 2009
11 posts
Hank, Carl, and me
Like millions of Americans, I often pass those languorous minutes between the end of dinner and the beginning of prime time with a healthy dose of answers and questions. I’m speaking, of course, of Jeopardy! which, in a still controversial decision, was placed #2 on TV Guide’s list of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time. The main controversies, as such, are twofold:
1. The Price...
since every pleasure's got an edge of pain
Can great songs be written without pain? I think I’ve asked the question here, in some form, before but I’m still unsure of the answer. The event that prompts the question this time is the on-stage wedding of Lucinda Williams; an event that, presumably, was absent of the pain that played such a prominent role in her earlier work. The pain of lost love, in fact, all but dominated...
Have you ever wondered....
what I might look like standing slightly dazed next to a stately Irish gentleman? Satisfy your curiosity.
real men of genius
Over on Slate, Ron Rosenbaum has a typically great piece on the concept of genius. The piece considers not only the who but the what of genius: Who should be considered a genius? Can a non-genius produce a work of genius? Can someone slip into and out of a period of genius?
Just as interestingly, Rosenbaum considers how we should interpret great works by non-geniuses. Should we be even more...
campfire's out
Yesterday was the last day of that long weekend marathon known as the Cutting Edge of the Campfire Festival. The afternoon kicked off with The Bigfoot Research Organization (a.k.a. Rob Laurens, Lloyd Thayer, Dave Dersham, and Joel Ninesling. In between songs (some about Sasquatch, many not), the four men recited haiku, read from books, and offered facts to convert the audience into Bigfoot...
Cutting Edge of the Campfire Festival
I don’t think they even call it that anymore (I believe Campfire Festival is the preferred title), but I will persist since this is the only context in which my name will be close to the phrase “cutting edge.” Anyway, I’ll be playing at 2:15pm on Monday at Club Passim; the festival starts tonight, though, and I’m looking forward to dropping in as a spectator. You...
Empty Like The Lion Den
It’s been a long time coming (it’s been almost 2 1/2 years since the last one), but my new record is on its way. Unless it all goes wrong from here, I’ll have the discs in hand before the weekend and copies will be available on Monday at the Campfire Festival. Copies will also be available at the Boston Folk Festival the following week and at other upcoming shows and...
Bottom 10 Rejected Titles For My New Album
1. Prematurely Grey
2. I Liked This Better When It Was Called Sweet Revenge
3. Americanasta
4. Torn Up Routes II
5. 5 Ian Fitzgerald Fans Can’t Be Wrong
6. American Idylls
7. Razzmatazz
8. I Liked This Better When It Was Called Golden Age Of Radio
9. Cribbage Patch Kid
10. Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only The Idiophone Player
